Dean never served in Congress and spent his Washington career trying to thin the ranks of congressional Republicans that the Obama White House will need to court during the expected debate on health care reform.

Dean not a contender for health secretary

Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean is not a serious contender to be secretary of health and human services in the new Obama administration, sources said.

Dean’s name has appeared on short lists for the Cabinet post circulating throughout Washington, based largely on his party chairmanship and career as a doctor. Dean also passed health care reforms while governor of Vermont. And his allies said the Obama transition team has had some informal discussions with him about the job.

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But the chief attributes President-elect Barack Obama is seeking in his HHS secretary will be an ability to work with members of Congress and shepherd reform legislation through the House and Senate.

That job description has turned out to be a particularly ill-suited one for Dean, given his partisan background and lack of congressional experience, sources inside and outside the transition offices say.

Dean never served in Congress and spent his Washington career trying to thin the ranks of congressional Republicans that the Obama White House will need to court during the expected debate on health care reform.

Another contender for the HHS post, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), could have similar partisan problems. But Daschle has an insider's understanding of the legislative process and, most importantly, how to work the Senate and its many egos.

That’s not to say that there may not be another slot in the new administration more suitable to Dean. The party chairman and president-elect share a commitment to building a national Democratic Party active in all 50 states. Both men also have been pioneers in using the Internet to rally supporters and engage them in the political process.

But Dean, who’s announced he’s relinquishing the party gavel, could still face hurdles — not necessarily insurmountable ones — given his sometimes rocky intraparty relationships.

In 2006, Dean clashed sharply with incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel over how to allocate party resources during the midterm elections.

Dean held firm on funding state party offices as part of his 50-state strategy at a time when Emanuel, an Illinois congressman who then headed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, wanted to see more cash to help House candidates.

A compromise was reached, but resentment lingers in some corners, sources said.

Additionally, the Democratic National Convention team also raised the ire of some Obama campaign officials this summer after it initially seemed to resist Obama’s plans to deliver his acceptance speech at Invesco Field.

It was a complicated and expensive add-on for a host convention committee and the Democratic National Convention Committee organizers and fundraisers already struggling to meet their financial targets.

The unprecedented move from the convention hall to the outdoor football stadium also created numerous legal, logistical and security issues, participants recall. Sorting out those decisions in a relatively short period of time among three separate parties added to the stress and, sometimes, misunderstandings during the planning.

Obama’s team became miffed when convention planners suggested to the news media that the Denver convention would be cut short by a day, a proposal they believed would turn Obama’s Invesco event into a campaign rally — paid for from his coffers — rather than the crowning moment of the party’s extended nomination battle.

In the end, Dean dispatched his executive director to help move the process along and the Invesco speech went off without a hitch.

“I’d be surprised to hear there are lingering doubts and concerns about what he didn’t and did do because it was a very good event,” said a Dean ally.